When the book review compares the story to one of Lisa Jewell's, it had better be good. And this one definitely lived up to the hype! Lots of mystery and suspense, but where is the missing girl and what clues are missing?

This is a very twisty, turny story. Things are rarely as they appear and most of the characters are hiding something. The suspense of the story kept me reading because I had to find out what was actually happening. All the side stories were fascinating, as were the way all the pieces fit together in the end. It was definitely a solid read!

This was my first book from Helen Cooper that I have read. I thought it was decently written and interesting. It kept my attention and kept me guessing til close to the end to figure out what happened. I liked the back and forth duel timeline of present and 25 years previously. I didn't really enjoy the characters or feel like they were very deeply written. Other than that I thought it was a decent read.

Too many storylines and characters that I didn't care much about. Too often characters proceeded in ways that seemed unrealistic. Normally love a thriller, but this one didn't do it for me.

A little long, in my opinion, but definitely kept my interest. I was intrigued by the relationships between these neighbors, and the albeit slow unraveling of their stories made for a decent read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Not since Liane Moriarty’s novels has a book kept me awake - either because I’m reading or I’m thinking about it.

With just enough twists to keep you guessing, and the right touch of believability, The Downstairs Neighbor is a fabulous addition to the suspense-thriller genre.

Looking forward to talking to patrons about this one!

There’s something uniquely British about domestic thrillers that are built around questions of community and neighborhood. Louise Candlish, Lisa Jewell, and Ruth Ware are just a few female British writers who’ve made London neighborhoods into places of murder, mystery, and mayhem. Now debut author Helen Cooper joins them with The Downstairs Neighbor, a thriller that reminds readers that you never really know the people you share space with.

For the rest of the review, click on the link below.

I think I get overly excited about new books and think I can read them all. That's I'll love them all. That's not the case. I just can't get past the first chapter in so many of them.

From debut novelist Helen Cooper comes THE DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR, a perfectly addicting thriller about the game of telephone that occurs when we think we know the people who live next to --- or below --- us.

Set in suburban London, the book takes place in a converted Georgian house divided into three flats. The privileged and gorgeous Harlows --- Paul, Steph and their teenage daughter, Freya --- occupy the top two floors; artsy Emma lives with her disgruntled hamster on the ground floor; and married couple Chris and Vicky make their home in the basement flat, an apartment with a private entrance that keeps them separate from their neighbors. One night, when Emma is feeding her hamster in his gloomy cupboard under the stairs, she overhears Steph leaving a message for Freya. Steph is frantic and worried: her daughter’s phone is off, and even at 17, it is unlike her not to let her parents know if she will be home late.

As the hours pass, it becomes clear that Freya is not just visiting a friend or shopping at the mall, and the police begin to treat her disappearance as a missing persons case. Emma is immediately swept up in the investigation, and as she eavesdrops on her neighbors from her convenient cubby under the stairs, she learns that the perfect Harlows are not all they seem to be. Their arguments are escalating, and when the police ask if they have any lead suspects or enemies, Paul requests a private audience with them, indicating that his past is not all that clean. Steph, meanwhile, begins to worry about an altercation with Chris, who was Freya’s driving instructor and who spent an inordinate amount of time with his gorgeous young pupil --- and was the last person to see her. As the police question every member of the house, each household becomes suspicious of the others, even as their own secrets start to come to light.

Alternating --- often at breakneck speed --- between these three sets of neighbors, Cooper highlights the ways that Freya’s disappearance is not only forcing these neighbors together, but also bringing to light their most devastating secrets. We learn that Paul has an enemy from the years that he spent as an undercover detective before abruptly leaving the police force and never discussing it again, Emma is going through a dysfunctional period with the man who used to live with her, and Chris and Vicky’s relationship is crumbling. With each character hiding something, it is easy to suspect each one of knowing more about Freya than they are letting on, but even more shocking are the ways that their secrets, lies and coverups have drawn them together.

As Cooper thrusts readers into the lives of her characters, a separate, decades-old story starts to unfold in alternating chapters featuring Kate, a teenager who watches her mother fall victim to domestic abuse. Although Kate is not obviously connected to any of Cooper’s present-day characters, her story is equally compelling, and Cooper’s depictions of domestic violence and the burden it places on families are as intricately written as the mystery at the heart of the story.

With so many characters, two timelines and a scintillating mystery, it is tricky to share much more about the plot without revealing too much. What I can say is that this is an instantly intriguing novel, and while Cooper is certainly ambitious in her plotting, her ability to maintain tension, drop clues and hold readers' attention speaks to an impressive talent for mystery writing. Although it is a little difficult to keep the characters straight at first, her use of the three-story townhouse keeps the narrative tidy and helps to cement each character in your mind. By the time you have them pinned down, their individual stories whisk you away with twists, turns and surprising reveals. While some backstories are a bit predictable, Cooper’s ability to write the emotions of her characters makes her uses of tropes and stereotypes feel new and fresh, and the overwhelming guilt shared by all of her characters adds a compelling edge to this fast-paced novel.

While I was eager to solve the mystery of Freya’s disappearance and figure out Kate’s connection to the other characters, I will say that the pacing was a little haphazard; the beginning moves so fast that I barely had time to care about Freya or why she was missing. I found myself much more interested in the other characters and their backstories, especially Kate and Emma. Although Freya was the catalyst for the unraveling of the other characters’ lives, she almost fell by the wayside as they took center stage. This is not only because of the rushed beginning; the reveals that followed felt so real and organic that I became much more invested in them.

With its numerous characters and double plotlines, THE DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR is an ambitious debut, but Helen Cooper has revealed herself to be an impressive new talent, and I foresee a very bright future for this newcomer to the thriller genre. Her intricate plotting and character-driven suspense are reminiscent of B.A. Paris, Megan Goldin and David Bell, and I suspect that she will find many fans in their readers.

The Downstairs Neighbor by Helen Cooper is a well written story that revolves around a house with three different apartments, three different families and a whole host of lies and deception. Add in another family in years past involved in their own set of lies, murder and heartache and the story is filled with drama. Suddenly a missing person is reported and no one has any idea if someone from the present is involved or could it be someone from any of their pasts?

I have to say I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very well written and I never felt like any of the details were rushed through. There was just the right amount of continuous drama to keep me interested. Throughout the majority of the book, the story kept switching between past and present, as well as between characters. There were so many times I had no idea how any of the stories/characters related to one another but it was never written in a way that was frustratingly confusing. The author was able to bring both the characters and the scenes to life in such detail that it was hard to not be pulled into the storylines.

The Downstairs Neighbor is Helen Cooper’s debut novel, and it is a good one. The entire book is well written with a twisty, exciting plot that is exciting and full of suspense, along with characters that are mysterious and believable.

The mystery/thriller is fast-paced and quickly will hook you in with the story being told from two timelines. The current timeline deals with Paul and Steph and their daughter who has gone missing. It also has views from several of the neighbors that live in the building with them, of course, everyone has a secret, and while at times the number of people telling their side slowed me down a bit, I would quickly catch up and feel back on track.

Also included in the book the second timeline that takes place 25 years earlier and deals with Kate and her mom. You know at some point these two times lines are going to connect, but the author weaves them so it will keep you guessing long into the book.

When I read a thriller, I really enjoy the feeling of tension or dread in the story, it draws you in, and makes it feel all the more real, and The Downstairs Neighbor certainly gave me that feeling as I read, it also kept me turning the pages, not wanting to put the book down until I reached the very unexpected ending.

This is a great thriller and a great debut. I look forward to reading more of Cooper’s writing in the future.

3.5 stars

Another twisty, exciting psychological suspense book. I was very invested in finding out what happened to Freya--how did she disappear into thin air, and what secrets are everyone in her life hiding? The book is told from multiple points-of-view, many of them residents of a house that has been divided into three flats, one is a girl from twenty-five years in the past.

I loved the story for the most part, but it took a little bit too long for the author to tie the events of the past to the present. Even with that, it honestly would have been a four star book, but the ending for me was just too unbelievable, it made me roll my eyes a little. Overall though, it's a fun read with some pretty awful characters and some that you might think are awful but turn out to be decent.

This was a fantastic thriller that kept me guessing, freaked out and surprised at the ending.

Freya is the teenaged daughter of Steph and Paul and one day, she disappears. Emma lives below them, and she has her own secrets. And living below Emma are Chris, Freya’s driving instructor, and his wife Vicky. Everyone has their own secrets, This story is interwoven with a parallel story from the past and the present is explained in various point of view chapters.

I knew the flashback story had to have some pertinence to the present but there were so many twists and turns that I gave up trying to figure out whodunnit and let myself just read. And it was really good and surprising, with well-drawn characters that inspired empathy. Thumbs up for this one!

The Downstairs Neighbor is the debut novel of author Helen Cooper and has been categorized as mystery/thriller, as well as, women’s psychological fiction. There are three tenants in a shared house in London. There are Paul, Steph, and their seventeen year old daughter Freya upstairs. Emma is downstairs, and Chris and his wife Vicky are in the lower apartment with a separate entrance. One afternoon, Steph comes home to an empty home when Freya should be there. She asks her neighbors if they have seen her and tries to reach her husband but as the hours pass, they realize that she is missing. The result is a twisted “guess whodunnit” from multiple POVs as you try to figure out what happened to Freya and who each of the characters really are. The story is told from Paul, Steph, Chris, Emma and Kate’s POV, although Kate’s POV is a flashback from 25 years earlier. It’s sort of confusing at times, but works overall. As typical with so many thrillers, it takes no time at all for every character to seem that they are a potential suspect – but there is so much more to this novel.

I probably only read about 10-15 novels of this genre a year, but when I do, I typically dive in and don’t stop reading from beginning to end. It took me several times to really commit and invest into this one. I’m struggling to describe why, but it took me a little bit to get into it. So, from about the 15-20% mark on my Kindle app until about the 70% mark I was completely consumed. Every narrator was unreliable in their own way, there were tons of lies and inconsistencies, and there was no indication whatsoever as to what happened to Freya. I was in love with this book and no one could tear my attention away. But then it happened. Things got way too busy and too complicated. There’s a fine line between too little, just enough, and too much. Everyone’s personal baggage and secrets started leaking out and unfortunately, some of them were just silly. Yes, they explained plot points, but it just seemed a little much. I felt like my brain was getting cluttered and just on complete overload.

Despite all of that, I will say that Helen Cooper surprised the hell out of me multiple times. I never imagined the novel ending as it did and for that, I give her kudos. But Emma coddling her son Zeb was exhausting, Paul’s weird previous life storyline made so sense and was boring, and Steph’s secrets were just weird. This is a good book and if someone asked if I recommend it, I would say yes. However, it didn’t need quite so much “stuff.” Had Paul’s side story been left out, I think it would have been absolute perfection. Or maybe a bit less of Emma’s whininess? But overall, this was a pretty good read. Considering this was her debut novel, bravo!

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Emma lives alone in her apartment with Gilbert the hamster for company. Below her in the basement apartment are Chris and Vicky. Chris teaches a number of teenagers how to drive. On the top floor are Paul, Steph, and their 17-year-old daughter, Freya. Today, she is late returning home from school and her mother is getting nervous. As time passes and Paul returns home from work, they finally decide to call the police.

As the hours turn into days and Freya has not returned, Steph and Paul are beside themselves with fear. What could have happened to their daughter?

This story bounces back in time to a tale about Kate and her cousin, Becca, and then returns to the present day situation, slowly peeling away the layers of time like those of an onion.

These characters are all keeping secrets from things that happened in their past and struggling to make their present lives good. But Freya disappearance means that those secrets come creeping out and may or may not relate to what has happened to Freya.

This is a good thriller that builds keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. It gave me shivers at times which, for me, has always proven that I am reading a super book!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It was a slow and boring read halfway through the book. The suspense surrounding a missing teenager girl is what keeps you going. Her disappearance is told through a series of montages from other characters back stories and are woven together to solve the mystery.

With quite a few characters to keep track of, Helen Cooper’s debut novel, The Downstairs Neighbor, is a book that the reader has to constantly pay attention to, but the intricate plot details and the twists and turns generously reward you for your time and patience.

Set in suburban London, a large home houses three separate families, and an untold number of secrets. On the basement level lives Chris, a driving instructor, and his wife Vicky who is a nurse. Their marriage is strained in what appears to be the same way many young marriages are – particularly money struggles and learning to communicate.

On the ground floor is Emma who has had to close her shop and is having financial problems of her own, and until recently, Zeb, who has just moved out. Emma often hears the sounds from the upper floors where Paul, his wife Steph, and their teenage daughter Freya live, and whom Emma believes to have a near-perfect family life.

When one day Freya doesn’t return home after school, everyone’s secrets start pouring out in an effort to figure who might know something that would help. No one seems to know their neighbors, their families, or even themselves quite as well as they thought they did.

Weaved into this current day mystery, Cooper has also included a missing child and a murder case, both from more than 20 years ago. Readers will be kept on their toes as they are constantly handed puzzle pieces with no idea how they will all ultimately fit together!

There are times when there simply feels like too many people to keep up with. Besides those listed above that live in the house, Vicky has two sisters that make appearances, Paul has work colleagues that fit into the story, and the characters from the stories that happened decades ago all make for a very crowded cast. Cooper does an excellent job of letting the reader know who they need to be paying attention to, though. In addition, a too-large cast in a mystery is much preferred over a too-small cast, as that often results in no “mystery” at all.

This book also alternates each chapter between the perspectives of most all of the key players. I know some people do not enjoy the shifting perspectives, but I love it as it keeps things exciting, and keeps the tension high. I am very excited to see what Helen Cooper does next!

Helen Cooper has written a page-turner of a debut. When 17-year-old Freya does not return home, there are so many possible suspects. The police ask the parents if they have have any enemies who might want to harm Freya. And while both parents deny it, their actions show otherwise. And then there is the single woman on the ground floor, whose teenage son has disappeared, Freya’s driving instructor who lives in the basement apartment. As the suspects struggle with what is going on, there is a second plot taking 25 years earlier when a young girl accidently kills her mother’s boyfriend. Both stories collide at the end and the ending is totally unexpected.

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for giving me access to this eARC.

This book initially caught my attention by the title and by the summary - a missing girl, family secrets? Sign me up! I was in need of a good thriller / mystery.

When Freya, a young high school girl, does not come home one evening her parents become increasingly concerned. Where is she? What do others know? What secrets are not being told? Shifting from different viewpoints of the parents, the neighbors and the past - this will have you wondering, can you really trust those closest to you?

Overall Rating: 4 stars
I was excited to dive into this book since I was due for a good mystery - the plot for this one intrigued me right away. I am happy to say The Downstairs Neighbor did not disappoint! The story is told through the different viewpoints of five people who are all somehow connected. I read this on my kindle and at first glance I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of chapters and characters that were involved. Sometimes with books that switch viewpoints it is easy to get lost in remembering who is who. In the beginning it started a little slow, but once I got into each character, learning their habits and personalities, I got sucked in. This book was great at giving each character a unique identity.

The characters: I felt out of all the characters I connected with Emma the most. She is a funky young woman who happens to hear a lot of her neighbors conversations. She also has a lot going on in her own life at the same time.

Lately I am finding that with most mystery/thrillers I am guessing the ending before it is revealed. This book was a breath of fresh air since it kept me guessing and on my toes until the very end. At first I felt the story had a slow start, but as the characters developed I felt myself becoming more invested in their lives and story. Towards the end of the book I felt I couldn't put it down as all the threads were weaving together.

Wow, now this is a mind-blowing book for me! So well written, amazingly written characters, and absolutely unputdownable! Very fast paced and unique, which had ne flipping pages like crazy; desperate to see what happens, not dreading it ending! Lots and lots of amazing thrills, chills, and shocks! Will likely be dizzy from all the twists and turns! Fast paced & unputdownable, a must read for me fellow thrill seekers! Highly highly recommend!